Steve Kerr on Steph Curry injury: In a weird way, it's a good thing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The moment normally would have called for the Warriors to mourn Stephen Curry’s absence. Or openly lament the impossible task in replicating Curry’s outside shooting that has ensured two NBA titles, two regular-season MVPs and a team-leading 26.3 points with efficiency from the field (47.3 percent) and from the perimeter (38.1 percent)

The Warriors (19-6) will miss Curry for at least the next two weeks, including Wednesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets (9-13), because of a sprained right ankle. And yet, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said something that most NBA coaches would not.

“In a weird way,” Kerr said, “it’s a good thing for our team.”

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Granted, Kerr stressed, “I feel bad for Steph,” both for his injury and his absence that coincides with missing a game in his hometown. Kerr also expressed relief that Curry’s MRI showed no structural damage that would require a longer absence. Nonetheless, Kerr spoke more about what the Warriors can accomplish with Curry’s absence than mourn what they cannot do without him.

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“We’re faced with a real challenge. Steph is the guy that makes us go,” Kerr said. “We have great players, but Steph is the engine. Everything we do revolves around him. We’re going to have to adapt and have to execute better. Our cutting has to be sharper. Our screening has to be better. Our decision making has to be better. In the long run, I think it’ll be a good thing.”

That is because Kerr has harped on many of those concepts already, involving the team’s turnovers, fouling and overall complacency. But as Kerr noted, “Steph bailed us out half the time.” After spending his nine-year NBA career making shots from almost any distance, however, Curry will not be able to make any shots while dressed in street clothes on the bench. Yet, Kerr likened Curry’s absence to when Durant missed 22 games last season with a left knee injury. That coincided with the Warriors going on a 14-game winning streak.

After winning one game this season already without Curry, can the Warriors have just as much as success as they did without Durant?

“Big-picture wise over the next couple of weeks, it’s an opportunity for our team to get better,” Kerr said. “We have to and have no choice to be more more proficient and more precise with the way we play. We have too look at it as that opportunity.”

Very few teams would have such an outlook. The Warriors have one future Hall of Famer in Curry sitting on the sideline with a walking boot and a crutch. The Warriors have three other future Hall of Famers still on the court in Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green able to produce.

“It’s the ultimate luxury – lose one MVP and have another one to go to,” Kerr said. “That’s crazy. Most coaches don’t even have the first option. As a staff we have two guys. What makes our team special is not having an MVP or having two MVPs, it’s having a team of playmakers.”

Those team of playmakers give Kerr a variety of options that keeps him open-minded on how he will use them. Though Warriors veteran guard Shaun Livingston would be expected to start in Curry’s absence because of his experience and steady play, Kerr said he has not formally decided if that will happen against Charlotte. Kerr added that will likely change “game-to-game based on matchups.”

There are some definitives, though, that Kerr said “softens the blow quite a bit.”

The Warriors will not have second-year guard/forward Patrick McCaw because of a nose contusion stemmed from a bloody nose he suffered from New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins on Monday, but he will see increased minutes. The Warriors recalled guard Quinn Cook from Santa Cruz, with childhood friend Durant calling him “steady and “crafty” for his efficiency, shooting and pick-and-roll coverage. Kerr plans to have others run the offense, including Andre Iguodala, Durant and Green, who is listed as questionable after nursing right shoulder soreness. Warriors center Zaza Pachulia will return on Wednesday after missing Monday’s game in New Orleans because of a sore left shoulder.

“We have to play a little differently obviously. Steph’s shooting and the way he shoots off the dribble and off the catch can’t be duplicated by anyone that has played the game,” Durant said. “So we have to figure out how to plug in what we’re missing from Steph. But if we do it as a group collectively, everybody is going to gain confidence and is comfortable playing in these situations. We’re going to have some tight games where we have to fight back. It’s going to be a great test for us all.”

To pass the test, Kerr stressed he does not want Thompson and Durant averaging eight more shot attempts. Instead, he wants them playing with the same kind of ball movement and pace that made Curry valuable for reasons beyond his shooting.

“I just try to chime in and do my job by playing as hard as I can,” said Durant, noting that Kerr, Green, Iguodala and David West are vocal. “Hopefully my teammates feed off my energy and my poise and try to be patient out there and be efficient and shoot good shots. If I try to lead by example that way, I feel like my teammates can follow the lead.”

Those teammates usually followed Curry’s lead for obvious reasons. As much as Durant said “we would love to have Steph out there,” Kerr sounded optimistic though his team can correct some of its other issues without him.

“You feel threatened all of a sudden without one of your best guys,” Kerr said. “You realize you’re vulnerable. When you’re vulnerable, you tend to have your guard up a little bit. I anticipate that will happen.”